Career Corner

Career Corner - Optician

April 24, 2002

Nicole Sanchez

Lives in: Altamonte Springs

Age: 32

Job: Optician, Bayhead Eye Centre, Lake Mary

FOR THE RECORD - ********** CORRECTION PUBLISHED APRIL 27, 2002 **********Because of incorrect information supplied to the Sentinel, a Career Corner profile on the front of Wednesday's Working section of Nicole Sanchez described her work incorrectly. Sanchez, although not a licensed optician, may practice opticianry under the direct supervision of a licensed optometrist.*************************************************************

Education: High school diploma, some college classes.

What I do on a typical day: I pretest patients before our optometrists see them, checking their visual strength, pupils and eye movement, and testing for glaucoma. I also get to pick out all the frames we carry -- we usually have about 1,000 styles to choose from. I'm in charge of inventory control. I meet with sales representatives for 50 different lines. I help customers choose frames and then adjust the eyeglasses to fit their faces. I also help people try on different styles and colors of contact lenses.

Favorite part of the job: The patients. Most of them are very nice, so it's sort of like a big family. I also love the fashion side of selecting frames. I really get into talking with patients about their glasses and what the latest styles are. I love helping someone pick out something sleek and stylish to replace their big, old, ugly glasses.

Biggest challenges: I didn't know a thing about optics when I started this job. Almost every day, even three years later, brings a learning experience.

Another challenge comes from working with the public. There are always going to be, um, interesting people to deal with.

One day I took a lady's glasses back to the lab to adjust them, and when I brought them back out, she insisted they were not hers. I tried to explain to her that the glasses had never left my hands, but she accused me of stealing and demanded to see the manager.

How I got here: I was hired to run the front desk here after having a similar job at the Lake Mary/Heathrow Chamber of Commerce. Bayhead Eye Centre promoted me to optician because of my sense of fashion in helping customers with frames.

How I unwind: Spending time with my parents and little brother and sister.

In five years I want to . . . Go to school and become a licensed optician. I plan to have children someday, and this is a great career for working mothers -- you can set your own hours.